1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to a hydrogen storage device. In particular, the invention relates to a hydrogen storage device that is filled with magnetic hydrogen-absorbing material to avoid powder dispersion. Through the mutual attraction of the magnetized hydrogen-absorbing material, the powder dispersion phenomenon can be avoided when the hydrogen-absorbing material is repeatedly released and absorbed.
2. Related Art
There are many known hydrogen storage methods, including those using high-pressure hydrogen storage containers, liquid storage reservoirs, carbon nanotubes and metal hydrides. In order to storage more and purer hydrogen, the industry has started to use the reversible hydrogen absorption property of hydrogen-absorbing materials not only to store a large amount of hydrogen, but also to obtain highly purified hydrogen as the hydrogen-absorbing materials only attract hydrogen gas. Such hydrogen-absorbing materials have been widely used in fuel cells. The hydrogen-absorbing materials can storage huge quantity of hydrogen gas so that the fuel cells can generate more power, providing various industries with much-needed power. Consequently, the hydrogen-absorbing material becomes an indispensable ingredient of fuel cells.
A conventional hydrogen storage device 200, as shown in FIG. 3, contains: a heat exchange reservoir 10, a fluid pipeline 20, a hydrogen duct 30, a plurality of fins 40, a hydrogen-absorbing material 50 and a filter 70, wherein the fluid pipeline 20 has an inlet 21 and an outlet 22 disposed on both sides of the heat exchange reservoir 10. The hydrogen duct 30 is disposed at the upper central position of the heat exchange reservoir 10 for hydrogen to absorb or release heat. The plurality of fins 40 is fixatedly disposed at the fluid pipeline 20 for the fluid pipeline 20 to disperse heat. The hydrogen-absorbing material 50 is filled in the heat exchange reservoir 10 for storage hydrogen. The filter 70 is placed inside the heat exchange reservoir 10 and connected to the end of the hydrogen duct 30 that is positioned in the heat exchange reservoir 10 for filtering powder from hydrogen-absorbing material 50.
When hydrogen is guided through the hydrogen duct 30 into the heat exchange reservoir 10, the hydrogen-absorbing material 50, by having the property of being able to reversely absorb and release hydrogen, can store a huge amount of hydrogen. When the hydrogen-absorbing material 50 releases hydrogen, the hydrogen gas escapes through the hydrogen duct 30. As the hydrogen-absorbing material 50 repeatedly releases and absorbs hydrogen, the phenomenon of powderization will occur, with powder generated therefrom being taken away by the hydrogen flow due to pressure differences. In this case, the filter 70 is utilized for filtering such powder of the hydrogen-absorbing material 50, allowing only hydrogen to be ducted out of the hydrogen duct 30.
Powder generated by the continuous release and absorption of the hydrogen-absorbing material 50 eventually results in the reduction of the gas flux and work efficiency of the conventional hydrogen storage device 200. Although a porous filter 70 is provided to stop such powder, the cost of the hydrogen storage device nevertheless goes up. Moreover, once the filter 70 absorbs the hydrogen-absorbing material powders to a certain extent or saturates, one needs to replace it with a new one. Thus, the maintenance cost also increases.
The primary object of the invention is to provide a hydrogen storage device that prevents powder, being generated when the hydrogen-absorbing material releases and absorbs hydrogen, from clogging the pipeline, thereby increases the overall work efficiency.
To achieve the above object, the disclosed hydrogen storage device comprises a heat exchange reservoir, a fluid pipeline, a hydrogen duct, a plurality of fins, and a magnetized hydrogen-absorbing material. The fluid pipeline is deflectively installed in the heat exchange reservoir with an inlet and an outlet formed on the top of the heat exchange reservoir. The hydrogen duct is disposed on one side of the heat exchange reservoir for guiding hydrogen flow. The fins are fixatedly installed along the fluid pipeline for dispersing heat. The hydrogen-absorbing material is magnetized and utilized to fill inside the heat exchange reservoir.
Another object of the invention is to provide a hydrogen-absorbing material, which is magnetic after being magnetized.
A further object of the invention is to provide a hydrogen-absorbing material, which is magnetized by a magnetic component.
The hydrogen-absorbing materials include nickel alloys and titanium alloys.
The heat exchange reservoir is further installed with a magnetic component that provides with a strong magnetic field to keep the hydrogen-absorbing material magnetized. Such design solves the problem of magnetization strength reduction due to repeated residual stress actions.
The height of the magnetic component is larger than that of the filled hydrogen-absorbing material.
The magnetic component is a permanent magnet or electromagnetic coil.